The Girl in the Red Cloak
by Allanna Stone
Summary: Emma is an upcoming singer/ Irish tap dancer with a dangerous past. Will her secrets catch up with her or will she be set free by a certain opera ghost?
1. Chapter 1

**The Girl in the Red Cloak**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera, Lover Never Dies, or any of the songs.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Emma is an upcoming singer/ Irish tap dancer with a dangerous past. Will her secrets catch up with her or will she be set free by a certain opera ghost?**

Emma smiled as she entered the Opera Populaire for her first day as one of the ballet corps. She was excited, even though she had never danced ballet before- but she was confident that she would pick up on it quickly.

As the petite eighteen year old girl made her way through the winding hallways, looking for the stage, she couldn't help but imagine what the rest of the opera house looked like.

Emma was brought out of her daydream by a woman with steel grey hair pulled up into a harsh bun stepping in front of her.

"Are you Emma Claran?" she asked her kindly. As the young girl nodded, the woman's stern look turned into one of kindness. "Welcome, dear child. I am Madame Giry, the ballet mistress. Follow me, I shall show you where you will be rooming." As Emma followed the woman, she noticed that she walked with a cane.

The ballet mistress halted in front of a door and pushed it open, motioning for Emma to enter. Emma gasped at the luxurious bedroom, which had two beds with draping canopies, two amours, and two vanities.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" gasped Emma, stepping inside. She saw that her trunk had been brought in and was waiting to be unpacked.

"Your roommate will be arriving next month," pointed out Madame Giry as Emma began to unpack her clothes. "Until that time, I must ask that you don't leave your room at night. The halls of the opera house can be very dangerous for a child like you."

Emma pondered on Madame Giry's words after she left.

"Surely she mustn't be speaking of the opera ghost?" she murmured out loud as she refolded a pink dress to fit inside a drawer. "But he must be dead now... is he?"

Emma smiled as she unwrapped her dance shoes. She had two pairs- one was made of black leather with the flexibility and love of a true born dancer. The second pair was also made of leather, but much sturdier, with heavy wood nailed onto the heels and toes

"It's good to see that my ghillies survived the trip," Emma quipped, giggling as she placed her dancing shoes next to the bed, alongside her other shoes. She returned to her unpacking, smiling as she found her homemade dancing costume.

As Emma pulled out her dress, she found herself smiling once more. The skirt came to mid thigh and was made of black velvet with embroidery in royal blue and turquoise. The bodice was also black, but made of lightweight cotton to enduce comfort. The sleeves were close till the elbow; then they flowed from the elbow down in graceful slashes. The dress was, all in all, one of a kind.

Emma laid the dress out on her bed before thinking to find something to hang it up on.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, sending Emma to open it. One the other side was a girl, no older than thirteen or fourteen, with long, pale blond curls and stormy grey eyes.

"Emma?" the girl asked.

"That's me," answered Emma, opening the door more to allow the young girl to enter.

"My name's Alice. Madame Giry wants for me to give you these," bubbled Alice, handing over a small stack of fabric. "It's the ballet corp's uniform," she explained. "There are also shoes on top in case you don't have your own."

"Thank you, Alice," Emma smiled at the girl before setting the clothes onto her bed.

"Oh, what are these?" Alice asked, swooping down and grabbing her hard tap shoes. Emma smiled as she took the shoes from her and quickly laced them up. Once that was done, she held up her skirt and began to do a simple reel around the room. Once she had finished, she spun and smiled at Alice, who was staring at her feet with envy.

"That was amazing!" squealed Alice happily. "How long have you been dancing for?"

"Almost all my life," Emma answered honestly. She smiled as Alice began to attempt to do the reel, giving up when she couldn't do the dance. "You just need practice. It took me over a year to learn the reel," Emma told the girl with compassion.

"Can you teach me?" Alice asked, bouncing up and down with antipation.

"I'm not the most patient person in the world," Emma warned Alice, who took this as a "yes" and burst from the room, squealing loudly.

Emma shook her head at the energetic girl before leaving her room.

Emma didn't notice the man wearing a white mask staring after her from inside her mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Girl in the Red Cloak**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera, Lover Never Dies, or any of the songs.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Emma is an upcoming singer/ Irish tap dancer with a dangerous past. Will her secrets catch up with her or will she be set free by a certain opera ghost?**

**ANOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS:**

**The beat that Emma counts out is called a Moroccan beat- it can be found in songs like the Russian Dervish from Riverdance.**

"Beautiful, Emma!" Madame Giry smiled at the quick to learn pupil who had just learned four of the dances for the upcoming ballet. "You have a rare talent, my dear."

The Irish born lass smiled and bowed her head in respect at the ballet mistress, who motioned for the other ballet girls to enter the small studio.

"If any of you were watching Emma practice, then I would like for you all to be as eager as she is and not sit around gossiping!" The ballet girls all lined up next to the barre and waited for further instructions, which Madame Giry delivered so swiftly that no one had any time to breathe. But Emma, who had been dancing for most of her life, unlike the other girls who had started at nine and ten years of age, so she was quicker on her feet.

"Oh, you girls are a disgrace!" groaned Madame Giry after four hours of running through the same dances over and over again. "Go and rest your feet- we are finished for today."

Emma waited until all the ballet girls exited the small studio before taking out her hard shoes, which she had packed in her bag and tiptoes onto the massive stage to practice her reels.

Once Emma was certain there was no one else around, she tied on her practice skirt and laced on her shoes and stepped out into the center of the room.

She started out with her right heel in front of her left toes and counted the beats silenetly in her head.

"One-a-and-a-two-a-and-a-three-a-and-a-four-a-and- a-five-a-and-a-six-a-and-a-seven-a-and-a-a-eight-a -and-a-nine-a-and-a-ten-a-and-a-eleven-a-and-a-twe lve-a-and-a-thirteen-a-and-a-fourteen-a-and-a-fift een-a-and-a-sixteen…" she counted before kicking her left foot up to strike the floor.

And with that, Emma's mind snapped into her own little world as she began the complex reel.

~xoXox~

"… and so as you can see, Count Daniel, the newly restore Paris Opera house will be of no doubt, the home to future stars!" beamed Mousier Marius, the new owner of the so said restored opera house.

The count was busy trying not to fall asleep as the prideful owner showed the count around. The owner was pointing out minor details, but what Daniel wanted to see was the so called talent that the opera house was home to. He had heard the ballet mistress shouting at the new ballet girls when he first walked in. Not a good sign at all.

"What was that?" Daniel suddenly asked the rambling owner, stopping his monologue about the detail work in the crown molding.

_Tap, tap, tap, __**STOMP!**_ _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, __**STOMP!**_

"It's the phantom of the opera!" squealed a passing ballet girl before quietly screaming along with her friends as they all ran from the hallway.

"I thought he died at the hands of the mob," commented Daniel dryly as he followed the owner towards the back of the stage.

"Well, no one knows quite what became of him. The circulating rumor is that young Miss Giry finished him off- or at least, that's what she says happened," answered Monsieur Marius before freezing.

The count followed his eyes and gasped quietly at what he saw.

A stunning girl was clogging on stage, her red curls bouncing as she skipped and twirled. She eyes were shut as she danced, her arms glued to her side, her legs doing all kinds of interesting steps.

"Who is she?" Daniel asked, memorized by her grace and beauty.

Suddenly, the girl stopped and knelt to adjust her shoe. When she stood back up again, the count noticed was petite and slender she was.

It was then that she noticed that there was an audience.

"_**OH!**_" she gasped before turning and fleeing, grabbing a small bag and jumping off the stage, her dancing shoes in hand as she ran from the stage.

"Who is she?" wondered Daniel, still remembering her haunting emerald green eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Girl in the Red Cloak**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera, Lover Never Dies, or any of the songs.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Emma is an upcoming singer/ Irish tap dancer with a dangerous past. Will her secrets catch up with her or will she be set free by a certain opera ghost?**

Emma woke up the following morning with a certain skip in her step. She dressed herself in the ballet corps' uniform- a pink dress, white stockings and black boots. She grabbed her bag with her dance shoes before hesitating. She went over to her small hand carved jewelry box and took out two lockets before leaving the room. While on her way to the dining hall, she placed the lockets around her neck and hid them underneath the bodice of her dress.

"Emma!" squealed Alice, bouncing over to grab the Irish born lass's hand and pull her over to a table to sit. "This is Isabella-" a pretty blonde haired blue eyed girl smiled at Emma. "-Emily-" a plain mousy haired girl squeezed Emma's hand. "-and Mary!" Mary was an average girl with dark hair and grey eyes, who nodded at Emma before turning to her meal. "Everyone, this is Emma!"

Emma was quickly welcomed into the group of friends and it wasn't before long that the girl's chattered turned to the new patron.

"He is so dreamy!" sighed Emily, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Have you seen him?" Mary asked Emma, who shook her head in response.

"The word on the street is that he'd met one of the ballet girls," drawled Isabella, not really caring what the patron was like. "Apparently, he saw her on the stage last night while she was practicing and liked her talent, but she ran away…"

Emma went pale.

So that was the patron!

"Oh look, here he comes!" squealed Alice just as a handsome man entered the dining hall.

Emma didn't turn, but everyone else did.

She felt his eyes on the back of her head, but she still didn't turn, barely breathing until she heard Alice's sigh.

"He looks as though he is looking for someone," pointed out Isabella, her nose in a book. She turned the page and spoke without even looking up. "Besides, he isn't even that handsome. Not with that scar."

Emma finally got the guts to examine the patron out of the corner of her eye without staring openly, as most of the other ballet girls were doing.

He was rather handsome, even with the scar that criss crossed over his face, starting at his left temper, going across his nose, right cheek and ending at his jaw line, but other than that flaw, he could've been Apollo id=f he wanted to be. His hair was a pale blonde it was almost white, his eyes were a dark chocolate color, and his skin was fair. He was tall with a strong body and a chiseled face.

"If I might have everyone's attention for a few moments, perhaps?" called out Monsieur Marius in a loud voice. "First things first, this is our new patron, Count Daniel LePompty. He will be watching the rehearsals for the latest show, which will be Beauty and the Beast. I'm trusting that everyone knows the story?"

Emma quickly masked her clueless face as the owner of the opera house launched into the tale of the beautiful maiden who fell in love with the ugly beast. Just as he was getting to the end, the unexpected happened.

A parchment envelope floated down from the ceiling and landed at the foot of the opera house owner.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Girl in the Red Cloak**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera, Lover Never Dies, or any of the songs.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Emma is an upcoming singer/ Irish tap dancer with a dangerous past. Will her secrets catch up with her or will she be set free by a certain opera ghost?**

**A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS:**

**Emma is not a Mary Sue- her flaws are arrogant in her dancing skills, being shy whenever she's around men and meeting new men, and being a bit withdrawn from everyone else.**

After the letter fell at Monsieur Marius' feet, Emma lost track of what happened next. One minute she was sitting in silence, the next minute she was in the studio warming up.

"It's the phantom of the opera!" tittered Alice, her eyes darting about nervously as she stretched next to Emma.

"Oh, come on!" scoffed Isabella, rolling her eyes at her stood demi pointe at the barre. "Miss Giry said that she killed him three years ago. Why would he return from the dead? Christine had already started a family with the vicomte!"

"Shh!" hissed Mary, glancing around to see if anyone had heard them.

"Isabella, keep your voice down!" moaned Emily, who was in a painful looking split. "Madame Giry will hear you!"

Suddenly Madame Giry clapped her hands loudly, causing for everyone to stop stretching and turn to face her at the front of the room.

"The dance auditions will be held tomorrow at noon; the final casting list will be posted the day at eight in the morning." She walked towards the front of the room, where the mirrors were lines, and began to clap out the beats and call out the names of the dance steps they were to do. Emma was the only person who didn't seem to be able to catch on fast enough. "Emma, my daughter, Meg, can tutor you if you need help," called out the kind but stern ballet mistress.

Emma huffed as she stood up demi pointe and twirled around in a graceful pirouette before muttering under her breath, "I can dance; I'm just not a ballerina kind of dancer!"

"And what do you mean by that?" sniffed a girl whose name Emma didn't know. "What kind of dancer are you then? A left footed dancer?" she laughed cruelly before flouncing off to flirt with the patron, who was sitting in a chair and chatting with Madame Giry about something.

"Emma can so dance," shouted Alice, drawing all the attention onto her and Emma.

"Oh yeah? Prove it," sneered the mean girl, folding her arms over her chest as she smirked.

Emma felt all eyes on her as she stepped over to her bag and swapped her ballet shoes for her hard shoes. The room was silent, save for the _tap-tap-tap_ of her shoes as she moved into position.

"Madame Giry? Can you please count off the beats?" Emma called out before humming a few bars of the jig she was going to perform.

She took a deep breath before striking out with her left foot and then placing it in front of the right and vice versa for a few beats before tapping her hardest in a complex jig that she had been mastering for the past three months. She showed off her powerful kicks and strong footwork as she danced her hardest she had even danced in her entire life. Somehow or other, she felt the need to prove herself to the mean spirited bully who had just challenged her.

**(YouTube Jean Butler Late Late Show)**

Emma made good usage of what available space she had, her arms pressed close to her sides as she did fancy steps that made everyone envious of her skill and talent. She finally finished with a dramatic feet stamping shuffle that made everyone look at the soft spoken, small boned girl with new eyes.

"Happy?" she sassed the mean girl before going over to her bag to swap out her hard shoes for her pointe slippers. She sauntered past a stunned silent audience, which consisted of four beaming girls, a envious bully and a flabbergasted patron.

Meanwhile, from a hiding place, a man in a white mask stared at Emma with a curious smile gracing his face.


End file.
